74 THE COMPLETE SPORTSMAN 



in a gold frame upon the wall of my uncle's 

 bath-room. 



To Sir Noel's zoological investigations the 

 modern natural historian is indebted for much 

 of his knowledge of the domestic habits of the 

 walrus — how it rises every morning at 8 a.m., 

 partakes of a cold bath, followed half an hour 

 later by a light breakfast of shellfish, lunches 

 punctually at 1 o'clock off seal-blubber, and 

 then enjoys a siesta upon a cake of ice until 

 tea-time. He it was, too, who first observed 

 that whereas the Indian elephant has four toes 

 on each of its hind-feet, the African elephant 

 has only three, a discovery which earned for 

 him the bronze medal of the Royal Geographical 

 Society. His classical monograph on " The 

 Auroch: Its Treatment in Sickness and in 

 Health " is now the most popular handbook in 

 use among travellers to the Caucasus; and it 

 was at his time-saving suggestion that the 

 Buphaga erythrorhyncha (that curious bird which 

 perches on the back of the rhinoceros and warns 

 its stout friend of the approach of a possible 

 foe) is now familiarly known among naturalists 

 as Bernard the Boy-Scout. 



3. 



My own early acquaintance with the manners 

 and customs of big game, and any success I 



